Vengence's End
by SuperSonic22
Summary: Oneshot. Sub-Zero and Scorpion have come down to their final conflict...who shall prevail in the end? [Based on the Mortal Kombat 4/MK Gold endings of Sub-Zero and Scorpion and Rated "T" for lots of violence and some references to blood] *COMPLETED*


**_(( I do not own "Mortal Kombat", "Scorpion", "Sub-Zero", or any related items and characters. I also do not own the idea around this story since its heavily based on both Sub-Zero and Scorpion's endings in "Mortal Kombat 4/ MK Gold". I was recently playing the game a few days ago and was inspired to write. Anyways enjoy!))_**

A blue and black clad ninja ran through the seemingly endless corridors of an old dungeon; a secret passage he had learned from his allies. He stopped for a second to catch his breath and check his surroundings and listened to the enviornment around him: the rats scurrying around here and there, the faint echo of water dripping, the soft rattling of bones as an unknown draft whispered by…

The whistling sound of something behind him made his eyes widen and in one deft movement, Sub-Zero turned and bent backwards, just missing a spearhead on a chain fly by his mask and retract back as quick as it came. In the same instant that he dodged, the Lin Kuei threw a wave of pure cold energy at the place the spear originated, growling under his breath as he heard the ice ball hit the wall, missing his target.

Another ninja adorned in yellow and black melted out of the shadows a few feet away on his right, glaring back at his opponent as it took a fighting stance. Sub-Zero returned the challenge and the two began circling each other, never breaking eye contact.

Finally, the assassin advanced and followed his steps with a powerful left hook. The blue ninja blocked the attack and spun him around, planted an open palm strike into Scorpion's back, making him stagger a bit. He recovered quickly, turning his body and lashing out with a back kick, hitting his foe in the chest before spinning and following it up with a jumping spin kick. The blow spun the Lin Kuei away a bit, allowing the yellow assassin to uppercut him in the chin and sending him back a few more feet.

Sub-Zero dodged the first of the blows that came after, attempting a few of his own before the two punched each other's fist at the same time, a second of time stopping before they jumped away from each other. The blue ninja took the opportunity and crouched low, performing an ice slide toward his assailant, who flipped over him and fired a spear while still in the air. The spear barely missed Sub-Zero and retracted back, leaving the yellow ninja open for an attack. Sub-Zero ran to the wall in front of him and ran a few feet up it before propelling himself, his hands shimmering with the deep, cold power he had learned to master.

Just as the blue ninja hit, the body of Scorpion seemed to vanish in a puff of smoke and Sub-Zero realized that he had fallen into his trap. Instantly, he willed his body to turn and crossed his arms in a defensive manner in front of him, barely catching Scorpion's fist as the spectre tried to sneak attack him from behind. Sub-Zero uttered a grunt as he hit the ground and was assaulted by Scorpion kicking and stomping him anywhere he could. The Lin Kuei roared and threw Scorpion off him, hearing him crash against the ground a ways behind him.

Sub-Zero cringed as he got back up, holding his side. "I don't have time for this; I'm not here to fight!"

"Then you shall die!" Scorpion hissed as he readied another stance.

"Scorpion, listen to reason! Shinnok already has the amulet. Any minute now, he will have enough power to destroy all of the Realms and the Elder Gods! I need to stop them before it's too late!"

"I care not of the Realms or the pathetic Elder Gods! What have they done for me?" Scorpion raised a fist to Sub-Zero, the hand engulfed in flames. "All I care about now is the vengeance my clan deserves! I will see you die for what you did! Tonight, you shall burn in the fires of the Netherrealm and I'll be the one to peel the flesh from your bones!"

The spectre threw another spear at Sub-Zero, this time hitting home as it buried itself into his chest, blood dripping from the wound. With a roar, Scorpion pulled the helpless Lin Kuei to him and grabbed him by the throat, slamming him on the ground and proceeding to beat his face in. Sub-Zero weakly moved his head out of the way of the blows and head-butted Scorpion before kicking him off.

Scorpion lunged at him when he recovered his footing, making Sub-Zero back flip away from the attack, creating an ice statue of himself as a decoy. Scorpion broke through it and immediately stopped in mid-air, completely frozen in a small sheet of ice. But the Lin Kuei wasn't done yet; he lept to the assassin and created a sword of pure ice, stabbing it into Scorpion's chest and breaking off the handle so the blade would stay in his body. Scorpion broke out of the ice due to the attack and screamed with pain before getting pummeled by Sub-Zero, ending it with a throw into one of the walls. The wall cracked upon impact and Scorpion fell in on his stomach, slowly rolling over to pull the sword out of his chest with another scream.

Sub-Zero watched from where he was, waiting for his opponent's next move. As he watched Scorpion get up, he took another stance and felt a twinge of fear as the spectre looked at him with a look of pure rage, his eyes literally burning with fire. He roared an unholy battle cry and teleported in front of the Lin Kuei, flip kicking him with pure fire. Sub-Zero reeled backwards, catching himself and launching another wave of ice at Scorpion, who ducked under it and sweeped his legs out from under him with a sliding trip.

As Sub-Zero hit the floor, Scorpion concentrated and raised his hands. The Lin Kuei's eyes widened and he rolled out of the way just as a column of fire rose out of the ground where he was a moment before. Recovering, the blue ninja threw a large hail stone and hit Scorpion in the face, making him almost fall over from the impact. With a window open for attack, Sub-Zero slid into Scorpion and delivered a fist encased in ice to his foe's chin. Throwing another punch, Sub-Zero felt the arm get stopped and screamed in pain as his arm got dislocated by Scorpion, who kicks him away and teleports behind him with a snap kick to the face, making the Lin Kuei hit the ground and roll away.

Scorpion growled and ripped off his mask, revealing a flaming skull underneath, its mouth open as it breathes a column of fire at Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero matched the spectre's intense flames with a blast of extreme cold; the two powers clashing with neither side looking like it would win. However, the flames on Scorpion's skull burned brighter and he shot a more powerful flame, slowly gaining ground on Sub-Zero.

Realizing he wouldn't win against the spectre, Sub-Zero rolled out of the way and shot a wave of ice at the floor in front of Scorpion's feet. As the assassin took a step, he slipped and fell, allowing Sub-zero to slide away from Scorpion and catch his breath.

"This battle is finished; your quest for vengeance is over, Scorpion!"

"You cannot KILL a dead man, Lin Kuei…" Scorpion stood up and took another stance, lowering his mask back over his face. "Even if you defeat my physical form, my soul is eternal!"

Throwing a spear, Scorpion watched as Sub-Zero dodged his blow and smiled wickedly under his mask. As soon as the blue ninja moved out of the way, he teleported behind him and rushed at him, tackling him to the ground. The two fought on the ground for a few minutes until Scorpion threw Sub-Zero into a wall, waiting for his enemy to get up again with another spear at the ready.

But after a few seconds, the assassin realized that he wasn't getting up. Walking slowly to Sub-Zero, he stared down at him and jumped back a bit as Sub-Zero rolled onto his back, groaning in pain. The mask he was wearing lay cracked and broken near him, his face bloodied and bruised.

Scorpion felt a twang of excitement as his moment of triumph neared. The day he had waited for so long had finally arrived…he lifted his arm, the spear slowly sliding into his palm.

"By killing you Sub-Zero, I will avenge the death of my family and clan. Now, my soul will finally rest!"

Sub-Zero coughed up blood and looked up at Scorpion, bracing himself for whatever tortures the yellow ninja had for him.

"Do you have any last words, Lin Kuei?" The spear wa now an inch in front of the Lin Kuei's right eye...

"Your soul will never rest Scorpion…"

The assassin stopped and narrowed his eyes, about to ask him what he meant when the sound of clapping made Scorpion turn. Walking out of the shadows was none other than...

"Quan Chi?" Scorpion dropped Sub-Zero and took a few steps back, letting his master near the fallen warrior and backed a ways away in respect.

"Sub-Zero…" The sorcerer smirked and looked down at the Lin Kuei, "Just like your brother before you, you have once again unknowingly served my purposes well."

"I serve no one! Not the Lin Kuei…and especially not you!" Sub-Zero spit blood at Quan Chi, who responded by stomping on Sub-Zero's chest and making the ninja scream in pain.

Quan Chi turned from Sub-Zero and crossed his arms behind his back, walking towards Scorpion. "Kill him as you wish…"

Scorpion was taken out of his silence and stiffened in front of the sorcerer. He took a few steps to Sub-Zero but stopped as he passed Quan Chi, looking at him with a look of deep thought on his face.

"Something troubling you, Scorpion?" The sorcerer asked, his head cocked to one side slightly.

"… I must know: Is Sub-Zero my family's true killer?"

Quan Chi's lip twitched and he smiled, "Of course he is…would I lie to you, spectre?"

Scorpion considered his answer and went back to Sub-Zero, standing above him once again. He raised his arm and clenched his fist, ready to break his long term rival's head in two.

"Scorpion..." Sub-Zero lifted himself a bit off the ground, lifting a hand to Scorpion's shoulder and stopping him for a second. "The Lin Kuei may have been responsible for you and your clan's murder…but your family's true killer still remains free…"

The assassin growled and grabbed the blue ninja by his neck, raising him to eye level with his own undead gaze.

"You lie! If you are not the murderer, then who is?"

At that moment, Scorpion felt something hit him in the back and he went skidding across the ground. Looking up in confusion and rage, he saw Quan Chi staring back at him with a demonic grin on his face as his hand stops glowing green from his dark magic.

"You ask about your family's murderer? Well he stands in front of you, Scorpion; I am the one you seek!"

Scorpion's eyes widened in disbelief as he tried to process what the sorcerer told him. "N-no… this cannot be!"

"To defeat my nemesis, I needed the power of a spectre. And guess who was willing to do whatever Lord Shinnok and I asked in exchange for his freedom from the Netherealm?"

Sub-Zero slowly raised up, looking in Scorpion's direction and saw all the confusion and pain his former enemy was feeling all at once. For years Scorpion was led to believe that his former brother, the original Sub-Zero was his family's killer. Now that Quan Chi had revealed himself, revealed that everything he had told Scorpion was a lie, the yellow assassin was broken…

"Now that you have used up your usefulness, pawn, I will send you back to the Netherealm from whence you came."

Scorpion felt his body tingle violently and as he looked at his hand, he noticed himself becoming more transparent and surrounded by a blue and white aura. He looked back up at his former master and tried to speak, but even he was so overcome by grief that words didn't come to him. Quan Chi laughed at the assassin's pathetic last minutes and turned back to Sub-Zero, smiling as he raised a hand to him and started to create a dark green demonic skull aimed at Sub-Zero's heart.

"And now…with your death, it ends as it started…"

Sub-Zero gritted his teeth and prepared for the torturous death that awaited him, closing his eyes and bracing himself. And then the sound of Quan Chi screaming in agony reached his ears…

Opening his eyes, the Lin Kuei was shocked to see Scorpion's spear lodged in the chest of the corrupt sorcerer. Looking behind Quan Chi, he saw Scorpion standing up, even as he was fading away, his grip tight on the chain and his eyes burning with the wrath of hell itself.

"Sub-Zero…" Scorpion looked in the blue ninja's direction, his wrath unchanging. "Our battle is finished. You are now freed from my curse..."

"Scorpion!" Quan Chi screamed as he struggled against the spear, trying to dislodge it.

"Live well, Lin Kuei warrior…" And with that, Scorpion glared back at his former master and pulled on the chain, pulling Quan Chi towards him. Quan Chi caught his footing and puled against the chain, feeling it give way.

Quan Chi pulled one last time and the chain broke free from the spearhead, making the two tumble backwards a bit. Raising a hand, the sorcerer created a skeleton hand to hold Scorpion on the ground and ensure his escape. But as he tried to take a step, he realized all too late that his feet were stuck in the ground by a column of ice.

Quan Chi, realizing that Sub-Zero was responsible, raised his hand to strike the weakened Lin Kuei and charged it with his dark magic. He pointed it to his enemy…but then heard the skeleton hand be destroyed and turned to see Scorpion charge at him, his mask removed and the flaming skull roaring an unholy scream of rage and hatred. The assassin leaped with a snarl towards him…

And then in a flash of light, both the sorcerer and Scorpion were gone.

Sub-Zero blinked a few times to recover his sight from the bright flash, looking around at what once was their battleground. He stood up and held onto his side, slowly making his way through the dungeon. He still had a mission to accomplish…

Stopping for a brief moment, he bowed his head and paid respects to his former enemy.

"Wherever you are, Scorpion…may your soul finally find rest."


End file.
